Distinguished Legacies in Black Librarianship and Archives: A Symposium Honoring Dr. Jessie Carney Smith and Ann Allen Shockley

Distinguished Legacies in Black Librarianship and Archives is a symposium at Fisk University honoring the influential careers and legacies of Dr. Jessie Carney Smith and Ann Allen Shockley. The program explores Black librarianship, archival practice, digital preservation, and the work of collecting, studying, and remembering African American history.

The event highlights Ann Allen Shockley’s contributions as a Fisk graduate, librarian, archivist, and author. She helped develop and steward Fisk’s Special Collections and founded the university’s Black Oral History Program. Her scholarship brought greater attention to generations of Black women writers, while her groundbreaking 1974 novel *Loving Her*, which centered an LGBTQ+ Black protagonist, became an important work in Black women’s and LGBTQ+ literary history.

Doretha Williams will participate on the panel “Black Digital Archiving Initiatives.” She will discuss Fisk University’s 2023 Community Curation project and the digitization of the Fisk Jubilee Singers collection. Williams, a former student of both Smith and Shockley, will also share her experiences learning from and working for the two librarians. The audience is expected to include librarians, archivists, and public historians from across the country.

When: Friday, November 13, 2026

Showtimes: 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Venue: Appleton Room, John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library, Fisk University

Address: 1000 17th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 32708

Type: Lectures and discussions

Tickets: Free; registration required.

Featured participant: Doretha Williams

Panel: “Black Digital Archiving Initiatives”

Focus: Black librarianship, archival work, digital archiving, community curation, the Fisk Jubilee Singers collection, and the preservation of African American history

Run time: The program is scheduled for 7 hours and 30 minutes.